Has John Kihlken, MD received payments from drug or device companies?

Yes. Drug and device makers reported $4,018 in general payments to John Kihlken, MD across 88 transactions between 2019–2025. Most Open Payments records nationally are meals worth under $20; a reported payment is not evidence of wrongdoing.

Does a payment mean John Kihlken, MD did something wrong?

No. Federal law requires drug and device makers to report almost every transfer of value to a physician, including a $14 sandwich at a lunch presentation. Consulting fees, research funding and royalties to device inventors are ordinary, legal parts of medicine. This site reports what was disclosed; it makes no allegation.

Where does this information about John Kihlken, MD come from?

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Payments come from Open Payments, published under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. Billing and prescribing figures come from the Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners and Part D Prescriber public use files for 2024.

John Kihlken, MD

Pain Medicine · Indianapolis, INNPI 1962799940

Payments from drug & device makers

What this record shows

Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 90.3% of the total across 88 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 20 manufacturers reported payments, led by Nevro Corp. at 49.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $1,335 and has fallen 78.1% since, to $292 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for pain medicine clinicians in IN, where the typical reported total is $3,412.

$4,018in general payments, 2019–2025

Across 88 payments — averaging $45.66 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.

Nevro Corp.$2K
Flowonix Medical Incorporated$389
Medtronic$378
Boston Scientific$325
SPR Therapeutics, Inc$243
Abbott$157
plus $523 from 14 others

What the payments were for

Travel & lodging$38910%
Food & beverage$3,62990%

Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.

General payments by program year

Who reported the general payments

Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.

Company	Payments	Total
Nevro Corp.	40	$2,002
Flowonix Medical Incorporated	1	$389
Medtronic	7	$378
Boston Scientific	8	$325
SPR Therapeutics, Inc	6	$243
Abbott	7	$157
Saluda Medical Americas, Inc.	1	$151
Merz North America, Inc.	4	$77
Merz Pharmaceuticals, LLC	2	$47
Heron Therapeutics, Inc.	1	$32
Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	2	$31
Globus Medical	1	$28
Vertos Medical, Inc.	1	$28
Vertex	1	$27
Stryker	1	$25
GRT US Holding, Inc.	1	$21
Si-bone, Inc.	1	$19
Avanos Medical	1	$14
Vertiflex, Inc.	1	$13
Pfizer	1	$11

What the payments were tied to

Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.

Senza Spinal Cord Stimulation System$892
Prometra II$389
Omnia$370
Senza$213
Evoke$151
INTELLIS ADAPTIVESTIM$117
INCEPTIV$114

How this compares

$4,018 in reported general payments places this provider in the 50th percentile of 128 pain medicine providers in Indiana.

See all pain medicine providers in Indiana →

Medicare billing

Part B allowed, 2024

$123,539

Medicare patients

357

Services billed

1,408

What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.

Most prescribed under Part D

Drug	Claims	Cost to plans & patients
Gabapentin	216	$2,296
Pregabalin	109	$2,294
Baclofen	69	$1,331
Tizanidine Hcl	20	$1,120
Meloxicam	24	$671
Duloxetine Hcl	25	$509
Cyclobenzaprine Hcl	26	$428
Methocarbamol	13	$197
Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen	18	$81
Cephalexin	12	$35
Diazepam	40	$32

Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.

Other pain medicine in Indianapolis

John SwoffordIndianapolis$127K
Philip ShumskyIndianapolis$27K
Michael GoldbergIndianapolis$13K
Thelma Green MackIndianapolis$11K
Troy PfefferkornIndianapolis$8K
Lori KieferIndianapolis$5K
Raheleh Rahimi DarabadIndianapolis$5K
Ting WeiIndianapolis$5K
Ahmed ElsahyIndianapolis$5K
Derron WilsonCarmel$616K

See the full list for Indiana →

Where these figures come from

Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.

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